Luzer Twersky (born July 26, 1985) is an American film and television actor.
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', April 2, 2015. He is best known for his role in the film ''

Felix and Meira ''Felix and Meira'' () is a 2014 Canadian drama film directed by Maxime Giroux, and starring Martin Dubreuil, Hadas Yaron, and Luzer Twersky. It is about an improbable affair between two Montreal residents - one a married woman from a devoutly ...

'', for which he garnered a

Jutra Award Jutras may have several meanings : * Claude Jutra: an award-winning French Canadian filmmaker **Jutra Award: Film awards formerly given in the Canadian province of Quebec, named after the filmmaker and now known as Prix Iris **The Claude Jutra Awa ...

nomination as Best Supporting Actor at the

18th Jutra Awards The 18th Quebec Cinema Awards ceremony () were held on March 20, 2016 to honour films made with the participation of the Quebec film industry in 2015.Amiens International Film Festival Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

and the Torino International Film Festival.

Career

Born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

as a

Hasidic Jew Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...

, Twersky left the community in 2008, after struggling with his faith. He later met fashion designer Duncan Quinn, becoming a model and a retail manager for Quinn's store in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, until taking his first acting role in 2010. By 2012, he was cast in his first leading role, in the film '' Where Is Joel Baum?''. In 2015, he also had a recurring role in the television series '' Transparent''. He appeared in the second season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

show ''

High Maintenance ''High Maintenance'' is an American anthology comedy-drama television and web series created by ex-husband and wife team Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. The show follows The Guy, a cannabis courier (played by Sinclair), as he delivers his p ...

''. In September 2017, he appeared as one of the main characters in the Netflix documentary '' One of Us'', where directors

Heidi Ewing Heidi Ewing is an American documentary filmmaker and the co-director of ''Jesus Camp'', ''The Boys of Baraka'', ''12th & Delaware'', ''Detropia, DETROPIA'', ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', ''One of Us (2017 film), One of U ...

and

Rachel Grady Rachel Grady is an American documentary filmmaker. She co-directed ''Jesus Camp'' (Academy Award nominee), ''The Boys of Baraka'' (Emmy nominee), ''12th & Delaware'' (Peabody Award winner), ''Detropia, DETROPIA'' (Emmy winner), ''Norman Lear: ...

follow him years after he leaves his Hasidic community in Brooklyn, New York, and how he deals with his ostracization. In 2023, Twersky played the role of

Hasidic Judaism Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...

founder, holy man

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...

(the Besht) in Ukrainian film « Dovbush» directed by

Oles Sanin Oles Hennadiyovych Sanin (; born July 30, 1972, in Kamin-Kashyrskyi) is a Ukrainian film director, actor, cinematographer, producer, musician and sculptor. An Honored Artist of Ukraine (2014); he was also awarded the Alexander Dovzhenko Ukraini ...

. Twersky is mentioned in

Penn Jillette Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American Magic (illusion), magician, actor, comedian, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller (magician), Teller as half of the t ...

's book " God, No!".

Personal life

Twersky is a cousin of rabbi and transgender activist

Abby Stein Rabbi Abby Chava Stein (; born October 1, 1991) is an Israeli-American author, rabbi, activist, blogger, model, and public speaker. A member of New York's ultra orthodox Jewish community and an ordained rabbi, Stein made headlines after she cam ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Twersky, Luzer 1985 births American male film actors American male television actors Former Hasidim Male actors from Brooklyn Jewish American male actors Living people Yiddish-speaking people 21st-century American Jews